A Postmodern Reader - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791416380 ISBN 13: 9780791416389

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1993

Synopsis

Those who recognize that the concept of postmodernism is with us to stay and who meet the necessary responsibility of bringing it to our students will welcome this book. It is ample in its offerings; and from the point of view of the potential user, the convenience and utility of the collection are prime virtues.

"The mix is refreshing. The selections are both varied and representative; they touch on essential aspects of the topic and exhaust its full range; they also underscore the conflictive nature of what is called 'the postmodern'. " -- John W. Kronik, Cornell University

"This is an outstanding book--timely, lucid, and much-needed--whose aims are well-fulfilled and that moves with ease from theory to practice."-- Alison M. Lee, The University of Western Ontario

These readings are organized into four sections. The first explores the wellsprings of the debates in the relationship between the postmodern and the enterprise it both continues and contravenes: modernism. Here philosophers, social and political commentators, as well as cultural and literary analysts present controversial background essays on the complex history of postmodernism. The readings in the second section debate the possibility--or desirability--of trying to define the postmodern, given its cultural agenda of decentering, challenging, even undermining the guiding "master" narratives of Western culture. The readings in the third section explore postmodernism's complicated complicity with these very narratives, while the fourth section moves from theory to practice in order to investigate, in a variety of fields, the common denominators of the postmodern condition in action.

About this title

About the Author

Now retired,Joseph Natoli spent more than four decades teaching at the university level and twenty years as the editor of the SUNY book series in Postmodern Culture. He is the author of many books, including Hauntings: Popular Film and American Culture 1990–1992; Speeding to the Millennium: Film and Culture 1993–1995; Postmodern Journeys: Film and Culture 1996–1998; Memory's Orbit: Film and Culture 1999–2000; and This Is a Picture and Not the World: Movies and a Post-9/11 America, all published by SUNY Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791416380
• ISBN 13: 9780791416389
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 600
• Editor: Hutcheon Linda